Free Corps Denmark

Free Corps Denmark was a Danish volunteer free corps created by the National Socialist Workers' Party of Denmark in 1941 during World War II. Denmark had been occupied by Nazi Germany in April 1940, ostensibly to protect her from British invasion, and the Danish government agreed to collaborate with the Nazis. In 1941, Germany asked for Denmark to form a military corps to assist in the fight against the Soviet Union, and Free Corps Denmark was formed on 29 June 1941 with Christian Peder Kryssing as its commander. In February 1942, he was sacked for ideological differences with Nazism, and Christian Frederik von Schalburg took command of the 6,000-strong corps. The corps' men were from all social classes and ethnic groups, with 1,500 of the 6,000 troops being ethnic Germans. On 8 May 1942, the corps was ordered to the front line in Russia, fighting at the Siege of Leningrad. Schalburg was killed on 2 June 1942, and his replacement Hans Albert von Lettow-Vorbeck was killed just a few days later. Knud Borge Martinsen then took command of the corps, which was returned to Denmark from August to October 1942 before being sent to Jelgava in Latvia to carry out anti-partisan operations. In December 1942, the corps was moved up to the front line at Velikiye Luki, and it was transferred to Grafenwoehr, Bavaria in March 1943. On 6 June 1943, the corps was disbanded, with many of its members joining the 11th SS Volunteer Panzergrenadier Division Nordland.